Portal:Singapore

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

Welcome to the Singapore Portal

Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree of latitude (137 kilometres or 85 miles) north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bordering the Strait of Malacca to the west, the Singapore Strait to the south along with the Riau Islands in Indonesia, the South China Sea to the east, and the Straits of Johor along with the State of Johor in Malaysia to the north.

In its early history, Singapore was a maritime emporium known as Temasek and subsequently a major constituent part of several successive thalassocratic empires. Its contemporary era began in 1819, when Stamford Raffles established Singapore as an entrepôt trading post of the British Empire. In 1867, Singapore came under the direct control of Britain as part of the Straits Settlements. During World War II, Singapore was occupied by Japan in 1942 and returned to British control as a Crown colony following Japan's surrender in 1945. Singapore gained self-governance in 1959 and, in 1963, became part of the new federation of Malaysia, alongside Malaya, North Borneo, and Sarawak. Ideological differences led to Singapore's expulsion from the federation two years later; Singapore became an independent sovereign country in 1965. After early years of turbulence and despite lacking natural resources and a hinterland, the nation rapidly developed to become one of the Four Asian Tigers.

As a highly developed country, it has one of the highest PPP-adjusted GDP per capita. It is also identified as a tax haven. Singapore is the only country in Asia with a AAA sovereign credit rating from all major rating agencies. It is a major aviation, financial, and maritime shipping hub and has consistently been ranked as one of the most expensive cities to live in for expatriates and foreign workers. Singapore ranks highly in key social indicators: education, healthcare, quality of life, personal safety, infrastructure, and housing, with a home-ownership rate of 88 percent. Singaporeans enjoy one of the longest life expectancies, fastest Internet connection speeds, lowest infant mortality rates, and lowest levels of corruption in the world. It has the third highest population density of any country, although there are numerous green and recreational spaces as a result of urban planning. With a multicultural population and in recognition of the cultural identities of the major ethnic groups within the nation, Singapore has four official languages: English, Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil. English is the common language, with exclusive use in numerous public services. Multi-racialism is enshrined in the constitution and continues to shape national policies.

Singapore is a parliamentary republic and its legal system is based on common law. While the country is de jure a multi-party democracy with free elections, the government under the People's Action Party (PAP) wields widespread control and political dominance. One of the five founding members of ASEAN, Singapore is also the headquarters of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Secretariat, the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council Secretariat, and is the host city of many international conferences and events. Singapore is also a member of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the East Asia Summit, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the Commonwealth of Nations. (Full article...)

More about Singapore...

View new selections below (purge)

Selected article - show another

The Supreme Court of Singapore. Before the High Court, which is the lower division of the Supreme Court, will judicially review the act or decision of a public authority, the applicant must satisfy various threshold issues.

Threshold issues are legal requirements in Singapore administrative law that must be satisfied by applicants before their claims for judicial review of acts or decisions of public authorities can be dealt with by the High Court. These include showing that they have standing (locus standi) to bring cases, and that the matters are amenable to judicial review and justiciable by the Court.

Depending on the interest that the applicant seeks to represent, standing can be categorized as either private or public standing. Applicants must establish they have private standing if they seek to represent personal interests. In contrast, applicants who seek to represent the interests of a larger group or the public at large must establish public or representative standing. Where private standing is concerned, the Singapore courts have not yet directly addressed the issue of the standing required to obtain a declaration in an administrative law case, but where constitutional claims are concerned the Court of Appeal held that three elements must exist: (1) the applicant must have a real interest in bringing the case, (2) there must be a real controversy between the parties to the case, and (3) a personal right possessed by the applicant must have been violated. The Court also suggested that the same test applied to applications for prerogative orders. The legal position on public standing in administrative law cases is indeterminate as, to date, no applicant has sought to rely on public standing to obtain leave for judicial review. In constitutional law cases, the Court has drawn a distinction between public and private rights, and held that people will not have standing to vindicate public rights unless they have suffered special damage and have genuine private interests to protect or further. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

edit

Selected picture

Credit: Sippala (28 March 2002)

Bedok Reservoir (Chinese: 勿洛蓄水池; pinyin: Wùluò Xùshuǐchí) is a reservoir located in the eastern part of Singapore, to the north of Bedok New Town. The reservoir has a surface area of 880,000 m², and a capacity of 12.8 million m³. The mean depth of the reservoir is 9 m, with a maximum depth of 18.2 m. The shoreline length is 4.3 km. Read more...

More selected pictures

General images

The following are images from various Singapore-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Fireworks over the Marina Bay skyline following the conclusion of the 2015 National Day Parade on 9 August 2015. (from History of Singapore)
Image 2A fragment of the Singapore Stone, inscribed with an Indic script, c. 10th to 13th century. (from History of Singapore)
Image 3Enlargeable, detailed map of Singapore (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 4Chinese community in Singapore carrying the Flag of the Republic of China (written Long live the motherland) to celebrate the victory, also reflected the Chinese identity issues at that time. (from History of Singapore)
Image 5The Supertree Grove at Gardens by the Bay (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 6Centre square of Raffles Place (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 7Upper Seletar Reservoir (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 8Jurong Industrial Estate, Singapore, with Jurong Island in the background (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 9Restored shophouses running along a street in Chinatown, which reflects the Victorian architecture of buildings built in Singapore during the earlier colonial period, with styles such as the painted ladies. (from History of Singapore)
Image 10Old Supreme Court of Singapore (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 11The Plan of the Town of Singapore, or more commonly known as the Jackson Plan or Raffles Town Plan. (from History of Singapore)
Image 12Traffic in Singapore, 1981. Prior to the introduction of the Certificate of Entitlement (COE) in 1990, vehicles per capita in Singapore was the highest in ASEAN. (from History of Singapore)
Image 13View of Bukit Batok Estate. Large scale public housing development has created high housing ownership among the population. (from History of Singapore)
Image 14The Thian Hock Keng, completed in 1842, served as a place of worship for early immigrants. (from History of Singapore)
Image 15Mass Rapid Transit (from History of Singapore)
Image 16A statue of Raffles by Thomas Woolner now stands in Singapore, near Raffles's landing site in 1819. (from History of Singapore)
Image 17Japanese POWs are taken to work where they were made to clear up the city during the British reoccupation in September 1945
Image 18Sign board with warnings in Singapore's four main languages: English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 19Hainanese chicken rice (from Singaporeans)
Image 201888 German map of Singapore (from History of Singapore)
Image 21The old and the new Singapore as seen from an alley behind Boat Quay (2023) (from History of Singapore)
Image 221955 stamp with the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II (from History of Singapore)
Image 23A busy Victoria Dock, Tanjong Pagar, in the 1890s. (from History of Singapore)
Image 24The Sultan Mosque, built in 1826 in the Kampong Glam district, is the oldest and one of the largest mosque in Singapore. (from Singaporeans)
Image 25Deepavali decorations in Singapore. (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 26Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival, led by a Japanese officer, marches under a flag of truce to negotiate the capitulation of Allied forces in Singapore, on 15 February 1942. It was the largest surrender of British-led forces in history. (from History of Singapore)
Image 27Singapore's urban geography is often characterised by extensive use of HDB flats, which the majority of citizens reside in. (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 28Shophouses in Singapore (from Singaporeans)
Image 29Men of various ethnicities - Chinese, Malay, and Indian gather at a street corner in Singapore, circa 1900. (from Singaporeans)
Image 30Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum (from Singaporeans)
Image 31Afternoon thunderstorms are a frequent occurrence in Singapore, which has an equatorial climate. (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 32The Mao Kun map from Wubei Zhi which is based on the early 15th century maps of Zheng He showing Temasek (淡馬錫) at the top left, and Long Ya Men (龍牙門) on the right panel. (from History of Singapore)
Image 33St Andrew's Cathedral (from Singaporeans)
Image 34Quadrilingual sign (from Singaporeans)
Image 35Portrait of Stamford Raffles by George Francis Joseph, 1817 (from History of Singapore)
Image 36The Jurong Industrial Estate was developed in the 1960s to industrialise the economy. (from History of Singapore)
Image 37The Marina Bay Sands integrated resort. Opened in 2010, it has become a key feature of Singapore's modern skyline. (from History of Singapore)
Image 38Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 39Baedeker map of the city and environs, c. 1914
Image 40A hawker centre in Lavender, Singapore (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 41The country celebrates its National Day on 9 August each year. (from History of Singapore)

Selected biography - show another

Tao Li (Chinese: 陶李; pinyin: Táo Lǐ; born 10 January 1990) is a Chinese-born Singaporean competitive swimmer who specializes in the backstroke and butterfly.

Tao has represented Singapore at the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games), the Asian Games, World Championship, Commonwealth Games and Olympics. She holds several national records and is the only female Singapore swimmer who qualified for an Olympic Final. (Full article...)

List of selected biographies
Ho Yuen Hoe Gan Eng Seng Hugh Hickling Zubir Said Tang Da Wu Edwin Thumboo Teresa Hsu Fandi Ahmad Denise Phua Li Jiawei Glenn Knight Laurentia Tan Yip Pin Xiu Neila Sathyalingam Walter Woon Han Sai Por Rex Shelley Feng Tianwei Lee Choon Seng Balaji Sadasivan Choor Singh Kelvin Tan Xiaxue

Did you know (auto-generated)

... that the annual energy cost of a single fume hood in Singapore can be up to US$9,300?
... that badminton in Singapore began in the early 19th century?
... that the United Ukrainian Ballet Company, consisting of exiled dancers based in The Hague, has toured the UK, Singapore, Australia and the US?
... that Louis Vuitton helped to develop the visual arts programme for the School of the Arts, Singapore?
... that Singaporean chef and restaurateur Tan Kue Kim cooked while wearing a S$40,000 gold Rolex watch?
... that Tan Gee Paw was presented with a solid gold medal by Lee Kuan Yew for helping to clean up Singapore's waterways?

edit

In this month

2 February 1963: Operation Coldstore takes place. At least 111 anti-government left-wing activists were arrested and detained, including key members of the Barisan Sosialis.
8 February 1819: Sir Stamford Raffles signs a treaty with Sultan Hussein of Johor, thus marking the founding of modern Singapore.
15–25 February 1915: The Singapore Mutiny occurs as British Indian sepoys rose up against the British.
15 February 1942: The Fall of Singapore to the Japanese during World War II. This was described by Winston Churchill as the "worst disaster" and "largest capitulation" in British history.
21 February 2008: The International Olympic Committee awards the hosting rights to the inaugural Youth Olympic Games to Singapore.

More Anniversaries...

edit

More did you know - show different entries

... that the tiger in the Coat of arms of Singapore (pictured) represents Malaysia?

... that during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore the Kempeitai East District Branch was the site of interrogation and torture of many civilians and that later the building housed the YMCA?

... that Choa Chu Kang Community Library was the first library in Singapore to install self-check machines for borrowing and returning of books?

... that the late Singaporean Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Balaji Sadasivan became a neurosurgeon after seeing the effects of Minamata disease in Minamata, Japan, as a medical student?

... that 159 soldiers of the Malay Regiment fought against a 13,000-strong Japanese force to defend a hill position in Singapore’s Kent Ridge Park?

More...

edit

Selected panorama

Credit: Chensiyuan (11 May 2012)

A night time view of Bishan Park after its renovation under the Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters (ABC Waters) Programme.

More selected panoramas • Read more...

edit

Singapore topics

edit

Related portals

Southeast Asia

Other Countries

edit

Tasks

Things you can do

Check for latest announcements and updates at the WikiProject Singapore
Make yourself known as a Singaporean Wikipedian
Create or improve on the articles listed in the to do list
Share with us your level of proficiency in Singlish by putting one of the 4 Singlish Babel tags (1 2 3 4) onto your user page
(More...)